2. Contact Info

3. Dealer Selection

During our 20,000-plus-mile, 12-month run with the recently departed 2007 Cooper S, editors offered up all manner of opinions about the second-generation, slightly bigger Mini. There was much love for how the Cooper S handled at the track and over smooth stretches of twisty mountain road, yet much disdain for an around-town drive that loosened fillings and jolted spines over even minor road imperfections. Some pined for a manual transmission, while others warmed quickly to the six-speed automatic with paddle shifters and a sport mode designed to hold the revs longer.

Just about everyone launched a few broadsides in the direction of the Mini’s cabin, which, much like that of the previous car, proved a borderline ergonomic disaster. But despite everything that annoyed us about it — the awkward seat adjustment, difficult-to-use window switches, weak nav/entertainment-system controls, and balky armrest, to name a few — the Mini’s interior still scored some style points, thanks to retro cues and an attractive blend of materials.

New for the 2007 model year, the second-gen Mini’s 1.6-liter, 172-horse/177-pound-foot turbocharged DOHC 16-valve I-4 proved stout and delivered an impressive power surge when needed — enough, in fact, to propel it from 0 to 60 in a brisk 6.2 seconds. And while many wished for a manual gearbox, in the end we found the six-speed auto perfectly competent and adequate fun. With a 64/36 front bias, the Cooper S is never going to be completely devoid of torque steer, but our sport-suspended, Lightning Blue hatchback showed that front drive and fun-to-drive needn’t be mutually exclusive.

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Mini and road trip don’t exactly go together like cake and ice cream, but our car scooted on two extended jaunts. One was a 1050-mile round trip photographer extraordinaire Brian Vance took up to Northern California on a family ski outing. Like everyone else in the office, when the going got twisty, Vance attacked the turns in the British runabout and had a blast. And he averaged about 27.5 mpg during the trek, an especially frugal number considering the hard driving. The Cooper S provided just enough room for photography gear and luggage as well as gifts for the family, but with the Mini being as mini as it is, there were issues. “Despite all the clever, distinctive interior design Mini gave this car,” says Vance, “it has neglected to put much storage space within the driver’s reach. There are a couple of hard-to-access cupholders below the center stack, a map pocket in the door, and a shallow U-shaped area under the handbrake. I had troubling stashing my phone, iPod, aux cord, and spare change.”

The other excursion our Mini embarked upon was an epic, 4800-mile cross-country journey at the hands of our resident Mini maniac, Truck Trend Web producer Melissa Spiering. She took the Cooper S to “Minis on the Dragon,” a pilgrimage to one of the most famous roads in the nation-a 300-turn, 11-mile stretch of Highway 129 known as “The Dragon,” a bend-fest that winds its way through the Great Smoky Mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee. She had the time of her life zipping up and down the famed Dragon and mingling with the 500 other Mini owners. On her way back, in Arizona, the Mini’s service light finally came on just after the 17,000-mile mark, and Spiering paid a visit to North Scottsdale Mini for the Cooper S’s first service. Mini provides free maintenance for up to three years or 36,000 miles, so Spiering was able to keep the credit card in her wallet. Other than that service, the only other times we had the Mini in the shop were to fix a cracked windshield ($1376.87) and replace worn-out tires ($836.95)-lots of hard driving will do that. We were also annoyed by the center armrest, the top of which tended to slide around.

Takeaways from our year with the Cooper S: Think long and hard about adding the sport suspension. Combined with the run-flat tires, it makes for a teeth-chattering ride. The Mini’s “quirky” interior will get on your nerves-while it’s big inside for the car’s size and the new model is slightly bigger overall, they don’t call it a Mini for nothing. Most important, though, our Mini delivered almost unbelievable mileage, zipped in and out of tight spaces with aplomb, was a hoot to drive aggressively, and had a wealth of premium features, all at a semi-reasonable price. And that’s more than enough for us to recommend it.

From The Logbook

“The trans gives the best response and control of anything I’ve felt from a non-Audi. Suspension is softer but still a beat-you-up kind of fun factor. I don’t find myself relaxed at the end of the drive. More like after a good run, flush with endorphins.”– Mark Williams

“I was prepared to hate this thing. A MINI Cooper S! With an automatic! Are we really car guys? Then I drove it. The six speed auto is a gem. It just surfs the ton of torque pumped out by that turbo four, and you always seem to be in precisely the right gear.”– Angus Mackenzie

“The most irritating thing about the Mini is its interior design. The window switches seem almost designed to get blocked behind loaded cupholders; the confusing and difficult to operate ventilation controls; the seatback reclining knobs wedged between armrest and seat; the turn stalks that offer zero tactile feel; and the armrest, which feels cheap and flimsy-all add up to an experience that’s a disaster in ergonomics and logic.”– Rory Jurnecka

Torque

2007 MINI Cooper News and Reviews

When is a hot hatch too hot? When it’s on fire -- the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has put the 2007-2008 MINI Cooper S hot hatchback under investigation after reports of engine bay fires.NHTSA announced a full-scale investigation into the 2007 and 2008 Mini Cooper S model range, which includes the Cooper S, Cooper S Clubman, and Cooper S…

Driver: Max Angelelli Tire: Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST We said: As a smile generator, the MINI Cooper S JCW GP is tough to beat. After all, it's a cartoon of a sports car. Everything is exaggerated for effect-acceleration, braking, cornering, and bumps in the road. There's almost no pitch or roll, ever, but a tall seating position and limited…

We call it simple, The Question: "What's the best car out there?" Most of us here at Motor Trend would like a dollar for every time we've been asked The Question over the years. Some of us have been in this business long enough to have retired to a small island in the Caribbean on the proceeds.Longtime Motor Trend readers…

During our 20,000-plus-mile, 12-month run with the recently departed 2007 Cooper S, editors offered up all manner of opinions about the second-generation, slightly bigger Mini. There was much love for how the Cooper S handled at the track and over smooth stretches of twisty mountain road, yet much disdain for an around-town drive that loosened fillings and jolted spines over…

Some people consider traveling cross-country a bore, while others consider following the roads that keep our nation moving quite an adventure. I'm one of those adventurous types who see beyond the miles of flat asphalt that litter our hillsides and desert plains. Route 66, which connects the East and West,;is arguably the most famous;stretch of highway in U.S. history. Many…